Do You Pinch Calibrachoa Back?

Pruning

• Pinching annual herbaceous plants and houseplants is a pruning method. Deadheading removes spent flowers, while pinching removes sections of stems. Instead of pruning shears, fingernails are the tools of choice when pinching. Soft pinching removes small lengths of stems, and hard pinching removes long sections. Pinching benefits calibrachoas, keeping plants tidy and increasing flowering stems.

Self-Cleaning Action

• Petunias cease flowering if not pinched. Remove spent flowers is necessary for new flower formation. Pinching above a set of leaves encourages lateral budding and stimulates new flower formation. Calibrachoa differs from its petunia relative, as it is a self-cleaning plant. New flowers form without pinching spent flowers. Pinching back keeps a tidy form on the plant without flattening of the middle, which leaves an undesirable bald spot in plants.

Selective Pinching

• Keeping calibrachoas in top production requires little maintenance. They thrive in full sun and well-draining soils, and they benefit from regular balanced fertilizer applications. Although deadheading or pinching back is not required for continual flowering, selective pinching encourages even more flowers. Hard pinching a couple of stems in the plant's middle stimulates new growth filling in any bald spots. Soft pinching the stems' tips stimulates terminal stem growth and thickens plants' edges.

Pinching to Propagate

• Pinching stem cuttings is an easy method of increasing numbers of desirable plants. Commercial growers propagate calibrachoas by pinching plants and sticking the cuttings. This vegetative method is quicker than starting calibrachoas from seeds, especially since seed production is sparse on these plants. It allows roots to form along buried stems and starts new plants that grow into carbon copies of parent plants. Many calibrachoa cultivars are patented and only licensed growers may legally propagate and sell patented plants.